Parks, trails advocates descend on Capitol
The people who drove in from around the state for Parks & Trails Council of Minnesota’s 2011 Day on the Hill Wednesday learned much from the speakers and wasted no time in telling their legislators what they need to do for parks and trails.
Rep. Larry Howes, the Walker Republican who is the chairman of the House Capital Investment Committee, was visited by eight of his constituents who informed him that the bike trails around Crosby, Ironton and Brainerd, and especially the new mountain bike trail, are critical to the towns’ economy.
“The restaurants, the antiquers, they get it,” Johnna Johnson told Howes. “Bike racks (on cars) equals dollars. They used to say, ‘you can’t put a wallet in spandex.’ Now the retailers are saying, ‘I’m going to see the benefit.’ “
Howes listened to them all and said he had witnessed the positive difference the Paul Bunyan Trail through Walker was making.
During the morning session at the Kelly Inn, about 80 people heard Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Tom Landwehr take on the legislators from both parties who have been suggesting the state already owns too much land and should not purchase more.
Landwehr pointed out that much of the state-owned land came from a transfer by the federal government in 1858. Another large amount was tax-forfeited land the state purchased to keep a number of counties solvent, Landwehr said, and only 20 percent of the land was purchased for a specific reason such as a park or for wildlife protection.
“The truth is, the department doesn’t buy land because it wants to buy land,” he said. “We buy land because the people of Minnesota tell us they want it. A lot of this is political bluster.”
However, Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, an Alexandria Republican who chairs the Environment and Natural Resources Committee, said he is not likely to support a bonding bill this year that included new projects such as additional trails. While acknowledging that because of the economic picture, bonds and the projects are cheaper than they have been, “I will look at bills that would maintain what we have.”
Hastings Republican Rep. Dennis McNamara, chairman of the House Environment, Energy, Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee, said he doubted a bill introduced last week to sell about $21 million of bonds for trails will pass.
He said he opposes bills that would prohibit buying more land or require the state to sell land when they purchase new land. The Legislature is likely to make the DNR come back with a plan on which lands should be sold and which new lands should be purchased, McNamara said.
Both legislators said there is likely to be discussions on how the Legacy Amendment money is split between the DNR, Metropolitan Parks and a grant program that can be used by outstate regional parks.
